subject: If I acquire energy saving light bulbs how much will that assist environmental sustainability? [print this page] If I acquire energy saving light bulbs how much will that assist environmental sustainability?
It is continually stated that incandescent light bulbs use excessive quantities of energy and cause harm to the environment. In addition the environmental supporters have now lobbied government to legislate for the light bulb ban. This is a phased activity to constrict the use of incandescent light bulbs and move to energy saving light bulbs . I will now supply information on precisely what is the impact on your carbon footprint by changing to energy saving light bulbs and compare this to carbon footprint amount for vehicle use and other electrical appliances.
What amount of C02 can you save by changing to energy saving light bulbs .
Electric light bulbs intrinsically do not create C02 , however, it is the carbon dioxide that is made during the electricity generation that is the concern. Now decisively if you are using windmills or hydro-electric power to make your electricity then C02 emissions will be very little. However, most electricity is generated from oil or gas powered generators which do create a considerable amount of C02. Lets look at the carbon footprint numbers. If a single conventional incandescent light bulb is used for 4 hours a day and this is swapped for an energy saving light bulb then this will save a breath taking 100kg in C02 emissions every single year.
Checking out the comparison with transportation and other ways to save C02.
This is all very factual but does 100kg of C02 released into the atmosphere really matter and are there not alternate actions, other than using energy saving light bulbs, that can be taken to achieve the same goal? I think the best way to look at answering these questions is to examine some comparative examples.
1. Consider that you take a sample family car the Ford Focus C-Max 1.8 (125PS). If you drive this for 330 mile less every year then this will make an equivalent saving to swapping one of your light bulbs for one or your energy saving light bulbs.
2. If you can amend your travel patterns to avoid 1000 miles of train travel, then this will save 100kg in C02 emissions. Energy Saving Light Bulbs can make a similar reduction simply through swapping just one.
3. If you fly from London to Glasgow on a full plane then this will create of 100kg in C02.
Checking out these comparisons then migrating to energy saving light bulbs does look like a no brainer.
So what does that all mean?
It is clear to see that swapping to energy saving light bulbs will make a big improvement to your carbon footprint but there are other aspects worth analyzing.
Dishwashers and washing machines do use around 3 kWhours of electricity each time they are used. As a comparator to a light bulb, if they were used twice weekly, this is largely similar to having 2 100 watt light bulbs switched on for 4 hours a day. As I am sure you can see that whilst these amounts are fairly high they are not excessive so simply make sure the appliances are full and do not use your tumbler dryer if the weather is good.
